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Aegialia of Nebraska

Three species of the aphodiine genus Aegialia are known from Nebraska, and all three have been collected in Keith County at Lake McConaughy:

  A. conferta Horn
Aegialia conferta Horn 1871

A. rufa Fabricius
Aegialia rufa Fabricius 1792
Aegialia rufina Silfverberg 1977
Scarabaeus rufus Fabricius 1792
Aegialia spissipes LeConte 1878
Rhysothorax rufus Bedel 1911

 A. rufescens Horn
Aegialia rufescens Horn 1887
Aegialia rufa LeConte 1878
Aegialia (Leptaegialia) rufescens Brown 1931
 
 
 

Description-

Length: 3.6 to 4.6 mm, width 2.0 to 2.5 mm.
Color: Head and pronotum brown or black; Elytra yellowish to dark brown.
Head: Clypeus feebly emarginate.
Pronotum: Roughened, subpunctate.
Legs: Hind tibia robust. Hind tibial spurs foliaceous.
Length: 3.6 to 5.5 mm, width 1.8 to 2.8 mm.
Color: entirely reddish brown.
Head: Clypeus feebly emarginate.
Pronotum: Weakly punctate.
Legs: Hind tibia short, very broad
(best seen in lateral view). Hind tibial spurs foliaceous (leaf-like).(Ratcliffe 1991)

Length: 4.0 to 5.2 mm, width 1.6 to 2.0 mm.
Color: entirely reddish brown.
Head: Clypeus not emarginate.
Pronotum: Distinctly punctate.
Legs: Hind tibia short and broad, length twice the width
(best seen in lateral view). Hind tibial spurs slightly flattened.

Distribution-

Widely distributed in the U.S. and Canada. Found from Ontario and Georgia west to British Columbia to California. Specimens are known from New Mexico, Illinois, Utah, North Dakota, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Holarctic. In North America, from Newfoundland and Massachusetts to Michigan, Colorado, and Nebraska.
This species is found from Massachusetts and Quebec,
to the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. In the interior, specimens are known from Michigan
(types), Idaho, and now Nebraska.
Locality Records- 34 Nebraska specimens. CUMING CO. (5): West Point; KEITH CO. (29): Lake McConaughy.
15 Nebraska specimens.
CUMING CO. (6): West Point;KEITH CO. (9): Lake McConaughy.
3 Nebraska specimens.
KEITH CO. (3): Lake McConaughy.
Temporal Distribution- April (3), May (26), June (5)
May (3), June (6)
 May (3)
Remarks-

Aegialia conferta is the only member of the subgenus Aegialia in Nebraska.


Members of this subgenus are more oval and convex than other species of Aegialia. A. conferta is easily identified in Nebraska by its darker color, especially on the head and pronotum. Recent specimens were collected walking on sand ~5m from the shore of Lake McConaughy. In late April and early May of 2001, the beetles could be found for just a few hours in the late afternoon until sunset, when they burrowed into the sand.

Aegialia rufa is the only member of the subgenus Rhysothorax in Nebraska.


Members of this subgenus are parallel-sided, with foliaceous hind tibial spurs. A. rufa is easily identified by its foliaceous (leaf-like) hind tibial spurs. Some Nebraska specimens were collected by sifting shore debris at Lake McConaughy.

Aegialia rufescens is the only member of the subgenus Caelius in Nebraska.


Members of this subgenus are parallel-sided (not oval)
and more elongate than other species of Aegialia, with slender hind tibial spurs and a distinctly punctate pronotum. In Nebraska, this species most resembles Aegialia (Rhysothorax) rufa (Fabricius), with which it has been collected at the same locality. However, A. rufa is easily identified by its foliaceous (leaf-like) hind tibial spurs. The Nebraska specimens were collected by sifting the shore debris following a late afternoon windstorm at Lake McConaughy.

Gordon, R.D. and O. L. Cartwright. 1988. North American representatives of the tribe
Aegialiini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae). Smiths. Contr. Zool. 461: 1-37.

Ratcliffe, B.C. 1991. The Scarab Beetles of Nebraska. Bulletin of the Univ. of Nebr.
State Museum. 12: 1-333.

Stebnicka, Z. 1977. A revision of the world species of the tribe Aegialiini (Coleoptera:
Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae). Acta Zool. Cracoviensia. 22: 397-505.

 
   

mpaulsen@unlserve.unl.edu